Non-Invasive Sex Identification of Juvenile Gopher and Desert Tortoises (Genus Gopherus)

Abstract

Using previously preserved specimens, we attempted to develop multivariate discriminating functions that could accurately identify the sex of hatchling Gopherus agassizii and juvenile G. polyphemus based on external morphometries. A simple and successful function was determined for G. polyphemus, but not for G. agassizii. The failure in the latter case may have been due to the use of individuals from morphologically distinct populations. © 1994, E. J. Brill, Leiden.